Review of The Jungle Book (2016) by Brett H — 11 Oct 2016

The Jungle Book is Disney's latest offering in a trend of rebooting their classic animated films into live action, and after totally failing with Maleficent and Cinderella being merely passable; they've struck gold here and truly changed the game as to what technology can accomplish! Directed by Jon Favreau, the entire film was shot indoors on sound-stages with blue screens, motion capture performances, and state-of-the-art technology that truly immerses the viewer into a completely fake jungle; they never once shot on-location! The story follows closer to the original Rudyard Kipling novel than a strict adaptation of the animated classic, most notably with the lack of a musical approach and thus leans heavily on the dramatic story which is quite powerful here.

The film stars only one human character, Mowgli, played by newcomer Neel Sethi, who rose to the occasion and carried this movie insanely well, having to interact with a completely faux reality must've been tough.

Luckily, he did have help from an amazing voice cast: Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Lupita Nyong'o, and Scarlett Johansson all give impressive performances, Bill Murray perfectly cast as the laid-back Baloo, and Idris Elba commanding the screen as the villainous tiger, Shere Khan! The story plays out basically the same as the original, with a few nice additions such as the animals' fear of the red flower (fire) and Mowgli's family being directly responsible for Shere Khan's rage, but don't expect too many surprises here.

The Jungle Book was a pleasant surprise featuring real heart, drama, and humour, and though it's completely unnecessary considering the original is still excellent, it's a perfectly solid substitute to a film that's nearly 50 years old!